This is not a Yes that's makeup. I was inspired by a beautiful illustration of a Chinese dragon to turn myself into one for Tea Halloween style. My bandmate Philip and my friend Elexis also let me get creative with their lovely faces and you can see the results in the gallery below.

I love the creativity of Halloween time. To me every day is Halloween in that way, but it is great to have so many more people join in - the costumes (especially the creative mash ups), the decorations and the Halloween inspired tea settings! It is also the time for warming spices, the flavors of fall.

I did a simple scones and tea for my friend Elexis and I. I had some leftover pumpkin puree from another recipe and wanted a scone that used that. Seek and ye shall find upon the internet! I found this cool recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction. It has some great, specific baking tips in it like freezing and grating the butter which results in deliciously flaky scones (if you don't overwork the dough, easy does it).

I was feeling my inner child and gave these scones a Halloween twist with a coffin cookie cutter and some red icing for fun. Kind of reminded me of the first short story I ever wrote when I was nine. A vampire story of course. I still remember how hilarious it was acting it out in front of the class.

​Have you enjoyed a Halloween Tea yet? Share your pictures with us on Facebook and Twitter. And show us your costumes so we can celebrate your creative spark!!!

I have had multiple people tell me that they are still hazy on how to steep tea and some even tell me they don’t really like it. I’ve found the reason for this is often one of the following. So this isn’t a moral judgment, but an insight into why you are having a less-than-stellar tea experience. We can fix that. Temperature - Come on in! The water’s fine...or is it?I used to dislike green tea. It was a real hit or miss experience for me. As I learned more and more I discovered multiple reasons for this. One was this heat thing. Green tea is generally not meant to be steeped at the same temperature as black tea. Here is why, green tea is much less processed than black tea. Like white tea, green tea is more delicate in flavor (and will also go bad/stale faster than black tea, by the way). When water that is too hot is used it scalds the tea and makes it taste like a bitter beast. I’ve also experienced and been advised that the higher the quality of the green tea generally the lower the temperature for steeping. Conversely, if the water isn’t hot enough particularly for a black tea, the steep may not extract enough flavor to please you and you basically have muddy water (no insult to the awesome blues man Muddy Waters. Can never have enough of him). If you look up tea steeping temperatures you’re going to see a lot of disagreement and different temps. I’ve been given suggestions varying from 160 - 185 for white and green teas and 180 - 205 for oolong and 200-212 for black teas. You will need to play within these ranges to find what suits you and the tea you are making. Ok, so how do you know the temperature of the water? You can use a thermometer or a temperature specific kettle. Some kettles can even be programmed for the exact temperature of choice while others, like mine, have a number of temperature options. Alternatively you can use the Chinese temperature method which looks at the size of the water bubbles as indication of temperature - bigger bubbles = higher temperature. There is also the Korean method of boiling the water and pouring it into another vessel to cool to the desired temperature before using.

Time - Don’t forget your hourglassEveryone has a different palate so this, as with many of these tips, is based on taste preference. The longer most tea steeps the more tannins are released causing more bitterness. You may need to experiment to find the timing sweet spot for you. Also consider cold brewing which releases very little tannin but doesn’t shortcut flavor. If tea is not steeped long enough the leaves may not give over enough flavor. This depends again on many things:

Personal preference - You may like some types of tea steeped stronger than others. I tend to like a more intense black tea but a really light steep for most green teas.

Palate - The ability to discern different subtle levels of flavor will depend on how developed your palate is too. Sometimes you may not be able to taste a difference that someone else thinks is huge and that’s ok. Like what you like and be prepared for the possibility that will change over time.

Heat - The Warm Up ActRemember those science classes as a kid? Heat transfer and heat conduction. Metal is a great conductor. Porcelain, China, some types of glass, though they don’t conduct like metal, do experience heat transfer. When the liquid poured into a vessel made of these materials is hotter than the vessel, the heat of the liquid will transfer to the vessel until its temperature matches the water. So, if you pour hot water over tea leaves in a cold vessel some of the heat of the water is transferred to the vessel before even having a chance to extract the flavor from the tea. Result: crappy weak tea and many tears.This is why it is so baffling when you order tea at a restaurant and they bring you hot water in a cup, with a metal spoon in it and the teabag on the side. There is no hope in that scenario. To make it worse I’d bet they never heated the cup before putting the less-than-boiled water in it anyway. Meanwhile your friend gets a well-made latte with creative foam art on the top, and you’re like “what did I do to deserve this?” Dramatic, yes, but it sucks to pay $3-$5 for something poorly made doesn’t it?

Quantity - Too much Too little Too lateThis is another personal taste thing. I love a good strong black tea that can stand up to milk and sugar. So the average amount of tea in a US teabag rarely does it for me. Kinda tastes like lightly flavored water. Blech. I also like moderate bitterness, nothing too crazy. So I up the tea quantity and lower the steep time. This way I get fuller flavor and less bitterness. The size of your teacup comes into play here. Most teabags/servings are meant for 8 ounce cups. This is America. Who drinks 8 ounces or less of anything? (Okay, bourbon drinkers, I hear you, but alcohol is the rare exception. And if any of you wine drinkers say you drink less than 8 ounces I am disinclined to believe you:) I use 16 - 20 ounce cups, so I up the tea quantity accordingly. Water - Take me to the River, but don’t steep my tea in itTap water has a large number of particulates. Distilled has none. The sweet spot is in-between. This was proven to me through a tasting at the World Tea Expo back before I had even started this blog. David Beeman of Global Customized Water steeped the same type of tea with Las Vegas tap water, distilled water and GCW’s reverse osmosis process water with a specific mineral content. Every other aspect of each pot was the same: same amount of tea, same temperature, same vessel, same steep time. The taste difference was amazing. The tap water made the tea taste like it had been dragged through a garbage bag compared to the other two. The distilled had a fainter aroma and only a slight pop of flavor and then it was gone like mist on the wind. The filtered water with the mineral complex had the greatest aroma, and most impactful, satisfying and lasting flavor. I asked Dave what the rest of us, people who can’t easily obtain reverse osmosis water with a specific mineral blend, can do to improve their tea experience. He mentioned filtration of course. Even a carbon filtered pitcher is better than nothing. Also, GCW sells these A&B bottles of minerals that can be added to distilled water to approximate the GCW water, if you want to go the extra mile. Then there is Spring water. When I use spring water for tea the result is a step up from a basic filter. The point is, depending on where you live, tap water has so much going on the tea has to compete with it. This is especially noticeable with the more delicate white and green teas. If you are going to shell out for high quality tea it is worth it to use high quality water.There it is. There are more factors and I may do another post on this topic, but these are the basics. Have you experienced any of these? Let us know about your tea ‘aha’ moments.Feel free to share this post with your fellow tea drinkers. Friends don’t let friends drink crappy tea.

We love the teapots and the gaiwans but travel mugs for tea are so important in our busy lives. Just because we are moving from place to place at speed doesn’t mean we can’t have our tea fix. Here are some tips and tricks I’ve used that make using a travel mug a more enjoyable experience.

Stay Dry

Test that the lid is on tightly BEFORE putting the mug your bag or walking around with it (who has experienced this fail with me?). To make sure you have a good seal after putting the lid on tilt the mug over the sink, or turn it fully upside down if you’re feeling cocky. If it dribbles, runs or pops fully off try securing the lid again.

Check your Gasket

The thin rubbery rings you find on tea mug lids act as a sealant when working correctly. If they get damaged, out of place or stretched out they don’t work right. Some are replaceable. Check with the manufacturer of your mug before giving up on it and condemning it to the trash bin.

Keep it Clean, People

Travel mugs often have grooves and moving parts that can hold residue (ick) that can make your tea taste nasty and get in the way of a good seal. Baking soda is a great natural way to remove tea residue from travel mugs (and cups too). You can use an old toothbrush to get into the harder to reach grooves. For the twisty tops, a good soak in white vinegar and water may help get to the places a brush can’t reach. Remember to clean under the gasket too, especially if you have milky teas. That build up is particularly gross.

Some Like it Hot

If you use a metal, insulated travel mug these can have amazing heat retention. I had forgotten to finish a travel mug of tea and discovered it was still drinkably warm 12 hours later! The only downside to this level of insulating heat is it may take hours before your tea reaches a drinkable temperature. When using these mugs I found it easiest to let the tea cool to a drinkable temp before putting the lid on.

If I’m not planning on drinking the tea for a while or have to transport it a long way then I just put the lid on while hot. Some travel mugs are a bit risky to use if the lid is put on while the tea is piping hot. The heat can create a seal where either the lid is very hard to remove or when it is removed it tends to cause the spillage of scalding hot tea. Ouch.

Turn Up the Heat

​If your mug doesn’t do a good job of retaining heat give it a boost by heating the mug before putting your tea in it or steeping your tea in it. This is just like you would heat a teapot (if you’ve not tried this it could be one the reasons your tea sucks)

Play Tetris

If you have one of the ridiculously shaped travel mugs that won’t fit in a standard car cup holder, there are gadgets that can be attached to car windows which are adjustable so that you don’t have to do the dangerous drive with your scalding hot beverage between your legs thing. That’s ridiculous.

Don’t Cross the Streams

I have nothing against coffee. I have had good times with coffee also (Don’t worry. Tea knows and is ok with it). But when it comes to odors and residues, tea is like the clean, coiffed girl at the gym and coffee is the guy that gets on the elliptical next to you and smells so strong you have to move, not to another machine but to another room...and want to make sure you clean every machine you use before you use it (you do that, right?). Coffee lingers. The smell. The oils. So unless you want a stale coffee-laced tea keep your tea and coffee travel mugs separate.

What tips have you discovered in your travel mug experience? Share with us on FB and Twitter. Together we can create a better tea experience.

For the more delicate of you who dislike discussing any of the body’s magical fluid management techniques read no further (are any of you even reading this blog, lol?) For the rest of you let’s get sweaty ‘n stuff:With temperatures above 100° F and beyond, breaking records, hydration is yet again a hot topic. Literally. I find myself in a water bottle fill-empty-repeat cycle multiple times a day (mine also has a mister on top that I love. Less exciting than running through a sprinkler but more portable). I also find myself taking trips to the toilet more often.I know that as a singer I drink more water than the average person and if you factor in my tea intake even more so. Still, sometimes on days where the temperatures are relentless and the running about causes me to slip from my hydration routine I feel my mind slipping away. Apparently this is a sign of possible mild dehydration. Research shows that most people in the Western world are in some state of dehydration and are unaware of it. There have been conflicting reports over time about whether or not caffeinated beverages like coffee and tea contribute to dehydration. I have never felt that my tea intake hampered my hydration efforts and a 2018 article in Time magazine supports this ‘tea and coffee are helpful’ side of the argument with info from a Doctor/Professor at UCLA Medical School. A Live Science article agrees indicating that increased intake of any fluid will cause increased urination. That doesn’t mean dehydration is occurring. From my scrapes with heat exhaustion while performing outdoors I learned it’s when you stop urinating or sweating that there’s a real problem. The Live Science article also refers to a 2005 study that indicated a higher dose of caffeine had no more impact on hydration than a lower one. That doesn’t mean you can’t overdose on caffeine, but it’s hard. Like really hard. Like 100 cups of coffee a day hard, which means many more cups of tea (though different types of tea have different amounts of caffeine a cup of tea is usually around half that of a typical coffee or less. Check the Mayo Clinic’s breakdown ). Likely you’d have some heart palpitations giving you a clue to slow down way before that happens. Now what about sweat? According to Dr. Weil, perspiration doesn’t smell in itself. It is when it mixes with bacteria on the skin. Ick. We are such interesting beasts aren’t we? We have 2 types of sweat glands, eccrine and apocrine, and it is the apocrine ones which are in the hairy areas that contribute to stench. Caffeine can increase sweating and Dr. Weil suggests removing caffeinated beverages from your diet if excessive sweating occurs because of them. Interestingly though, he suggests using deodorants which contain green tea extract to help control the smell as it is naturally antibacterial. I found multiple mentions about coffee potentially contributing to body odor but none for tea. Another point for the tea lovers!So tea can contribute to your hydration when you ingest it (drinking a ton of water alongside it doesn’t hurt) and it can reduce your body stench if you rub it on your pits. Tea might help get me through this summer after all. What is your summer go to tea? Have you ever used a green tea deodorant? Let us know on social here or here. Stay frosty, people.-Cassandra Vincent

Tea. To many it still conjures images of ladies in floral dresses and big hats or zen masters pondering the mysteries of the universe as in the case of Thor: Ragnarok. When Doctor Strange offers Thor tea he responds:

Thor: I don’t drink teaDoctor Strange: What do you drink?Thor: Not tea.

Then a huge magically refilling beer glass appears in Thor’s hand because everyone clearly knows that beer is a more appropriate drink for a man who calls himself the God of Thunder. Ahem. (great fun film, by the way) Now, I love beer. I have nothing against it, but ‘back in the day’ tea had a dark, criminal underbelly. Yes, the nobility and the wealthy drank it first, but as with anything perceived as exclusive everyone started to want it. So demand gave rise to everything from substandard knockoffs to black market trade.

Let’s look back to the 18th century. Britain became ravenous for tea more than any other western country of size.

“Recorded imports into Britain rose from 13,082 lbs. in 1699 to 1,241,629 lbs. in 1721. By 1750 the total was 4,727,992 lbs.” 1

But that is only the legal recorded amounts. The cost of tea was too much for most households to afford, especially with the duties imposed by the government and the East India Company monopoly on the tea trade. This unmet demand resulted in violent, prolific, smuggling. Some gangs that engaged in the tea smuggling trade went so far as torturing and killing informants and customs workers who tried to bring them down.

Yeesh. It’s like that spoof of “Breaking Bad” that some of the cast of “Downton Abbey” did on Colbert called “Breaking Abbey” where tea replaced meth. It is hilarious, but when you realize how like the drug trade parts of tea history are it is…slightly less hilarious. If I saw a biker gang drink tea now I would not think it strange (Sons of Anarch-tea? Yeah, that’s an image. )

The general public wanted tea but were against the cost of the legal version of it so millions were complicit in the smuggling trade2. The cheaper tea was often not much real tea at all. To keep the cost down it was often cut with anything from leaves of other plants, used tea leaves purchased from servants and even sheep’s dung3. Even dangerous dyes were used, like copper dyes in inferior green tea, which may have added to the British switch from green tea to more black tea. A fine was imposed for such adulterations but it was difficult to impose on tea sold under the radar. It kind of makes that Versace knockoff you got from a NYC street vendor seem mild by comparison. Unless you intend to eat it, of course. I suggest you don’t. You don’t know where that thing has been.

In 1747 the was a large drop in the tax on tea which caused legal imports to Britain to roughly triple and smuggling to shrink. But by the 1770s smuggling resurged with large armed ships with large crews running the game. During this time historians estimate that 4-7.5 million lbs. of tea was smuggled in exceeding the recorded 4-5 million legal lbs4.

Americans in the colonies were digging tea too and demand was increasing. As they were still under British rule the tea came through Britain for the first half of the 18th century. This tea came with heavy cost as the import duties paid in Britain were passed on to the cost in America. Because of this it is estimated that ¾ of all the tea imported to the colonies in 1760 was smuggled in5.

Then it got even more interesting. In 1767 there was a law passed that let the import duty on tea sent to America to be repaid which slowed smuggling for a time6. Then in 1773 the East India Company was allowed to export straight to the colonies and would include a threepenny tax per lb. As Britain had already taxed American newspapers, bills and legal docs prior and then initiated taxes on lead, paint, paper, glass and now tea7 it is fair to say America was getting tetchy. It was the Tea Act of 1773 that began the rumblings which would lead to the infamous Boston Tea Party. It was felt that Britain was attempting to secure greater and greater power over American interests. Customs officers had to be guarded by British troops. Apparently a man died and protests erupted when troops fired into a mob in Boston in 17708 (sound familiar?). The people began to organize preventing ships from docking and attacking tea warehouses. It was like tea had become a symbol of the establishment that the angry public wanted to bring down.

In the book there is an interesting log entry from the journal of a mate named Alexander Hodgdon who served on the ship the Dartmouth which arrived in Boston:

“Between six and seven o’clock this evening came down to the wharf a body of about one thousand people. Among them were a number dressed and whooping like Indians. They came on board the ship, and after warning myself and the Customs-House Officer to get out of the way, they unlaid the hatches and went down into the hold, where there were eighty whole and thirty-four half chests of tea, which they hoisted on deck, cut the chests to pieces, and hove the tea all overboard, where it was damaged and lost.9”

This was the Boston Tea Party, which resulted in the destruction of all tea on three ships that had arrived in Boston. The tea that had arrived in Charleston was left to rot and tea that had been sent to Philly and NYC was sent back to London. It was Boston that took the biscuit, though, sending a strong message to Britain who responded with closing Boston harbor and attempts to exert control that resulted in the war that led to American independence. No wonder coffee gained a foothold here. Tea was somewhat demonized for a time as a traitor’s drink.

Quite a ride for a beverage sipped in some of the West’s most opulent hotels and enjoyed around the table of many a common home today.

Tea - there is a world of history in your cup.

The source for this post is an interesting book written by a man who began his work in the tea trade at the age of 21 in 1960. The book is: Tea: Addiction, Exploitation and Empire, by Roy Moxham. This post touches on just a piece of what the book covers. If you are interested in tea history I recommend it. Here are the pages I drew from:

No matter our knowledge or passion sometimes things go awry – best intentions and all that – resulting in a tea travesty. Have you ever…

…poured the water to steep your tea and forgot to put the tea in?

…left tea to brew and forgot it?

…let a perfectly good cup of tea cool to the point of tepid blech?

…ripped open the outer tea packet and ripped the teabag as well?

…put sweetener in your tea having forgot that you already did?

…mistook the salt for the sugar?

…poured milk in before making sure it was still good resulting in sour or curdled grossness?

…accidentally dropped something in your tea that rendered it undrinkable?

…put sugar and milk in before realizing you never took the bag out?

…forgot to use the strainer when pouring steeped loose leaf?

…forgot to hold the lid of a non-locking teapot while pouring causing it to either fall into your cup or crash to the floor and crack?

…tried to put your mug back down on the table without looking and missed?

…used water too cold for black tea and created muddy water?

…used water too hot for green tea and made it a bitter beast?

…forgot to clean the leaves out of your teapot which then grows mold and you don’t tell anyone because that’s gross and if you’re writing a blog encouraging quality tea use how could you do something like that (this happened to a friend of mine)

We have all been there, luvvies and we will all live to tea another day;)

Car accidents are interesting things. The everything-is-moving-smoothly-then-out-of-nowhere BAM! is shocking, to say the least. I was a passenger in a car that got T-boned by someone running a red light and though my life didn’t exactly flash before me I am very happy to still have the privilege of breathing. I appreciate every cup of tea I have (unless it accidentally oversteeps and it gets gross, then I just toss it away and start again) but that first cup I was able to get after all the craziness was so sweet – like a warm hug of deliciousness. There are various statements about tea being the cure for everything, especially with the British. Though it may not cure everything, tea is another reason to be happy to be alive – to taste something soothing and delicious and full of life energy. This is just a short post to relay the cause of the silence. I hope that you find many reasons to be glad to be alive today and I’ll soon be sharing more adventures in tea. - Cassandra

Does a tea you once loved suddenly taste lackluster to you? Are you afraid that you’ve lost your love of tea? Are you afraid to talk about it? It may not be you, it may be your tea…or at least how it is stored.

I was at my bandmate Philip's place and we made a pot of tea from a loose leaf black blend he had. The first sip was uninspiring and I mentioned that the tea tasted flat like it had lost its character. He was so relieved that it wasn’t just him. He thought that maybe he was going off tea or that he was somehow making it wrong. I looked at the bag it was stored in: not airtight resealable – there was quite a bit of air in there and no tight closure. I asked him how long he had had it and he said months. It’s not that tea can’t last that long, especially black tea, but when it is stored such that air or light or moisture (or heat or odors) can get in and wreak havoc the glorious flavors have a much shortened life span.

There are a myriad of opinions and articles on tea storage but here’s what works well for me and I hope it helps keep your relationship with your favorite tea in a good place:

Opaque resealable bags – My favorite are the multi-ply ones that have what looks like a foil inner layer. If you press the air out prior to resealing these will do a good job at protecting your tea from light, air and odors. Your wise placement of them in a cool dry place will keep heat and moisture at bay too. Avoid clear plastic bags for obvious light reasons but also sandwich bags and the like are not meant for any long term storage and they can imbue the tea with a plastic essence. Blech! Save yourself from that disappointment.

Canisters and tins – These are great if you use your tea quickly or if they have a vacuum packing design whereby you can ‘suck’ the air out. A regular tin leaves room for air to be stored with the tea. Air and tea don’t make good roommates. I have found filling the gap with baking parchment paper to be helpful but only on a shorter term basis. Similar to placing wax paper atop ice cream prevents ice build up the air isn’t directly touching the tea and seems to help retain the tea’s character a bit longer. Another option if your loose leaf tea comes in a bag that doesn’t reseal well is to press the air out of the bag and put the whole thing into a tin. I tend to keep smaller tins also. I love the beauty they lend to my tea area – beautiful tea deserves beautiful storage.

Glass and ceramic canisters with gaskets – If these are opaque they are similar to metal tins in usage. It is best having a gasket with these, especially a good food grade silicone one, for keeping air out. Clear glass canisters need to be in a dark place to be effective, and if they are pretty it seems a bit counterintuitive to hide them so leave those for the quickly eaten biscuits:) Otherwise, as with metal canisters, leaving the tea in the bag it came in and sticking the whole thing into the glass canister is an option too.

Refrigeration – I only refrigerate matcha and not for very long if it is opened. Matcha degrades quicker than any other tea I have had and it doesn’t just become a ghost of itself. It metamorphoses into a gross bitter beast of a thing. So, just don’t ignore your matcha. It gets mean.

Buy only what you can consume quickly – This is my main mantra for having really fresh tasty tea on hand. I am lucky I have a tea shop in walking distance that is owned by an importer. So I tend to get my mainstays in small amounts weekly. It really works. But ordering online can give you a similar effect. Joining a monthly tea subscription is another idea. It can give you both freshness and an opportunity to explore new teas.

High quality loose leaf lasts longer than broken bagged tea – The fuller and more twisted or rolled the leaf the longer it appears to maintain its character. It makes sense: less surface area for air, light etc. to work on means slower degradation. If you do love your bagged tea, especially a classic like PG Tips for example where each bag is not separately air tight sealed, you would benefit from moving it to airtight, opaque storage after opening.

Store tea away from other strong odors – I’m not accusing anyone of storing tea with dirty laundry or in the cat box, but even places with pleasing odors are not a friend to tea. The main culprit being the spice cabinet. Spices are wonderful, but not when they enter your tea uninvited. A good air tight container will prevent this but anything less and you’ll be sipping your tea with a side note of oregano.

So there you go. Like Philip you may have a better palate than you realize and if your favorite tea tastes ‘off’ to you, it may be worth your while to rethink your storage. After all good relationships take care and attention. I hope that you and your tea bae have a long, satisfying, delicious relationship.

Tea can open your ability to savor. Savor the moment. Savor a sensation. Savor a taste. Savor a feeling. As tea prep is a process there are many steps along the way where you can practice the art of the savor. I have been practicing with puerh tea. I think it is a great choice because of how many steepings it can take and how the experience morphs through the steepings.

Here are some questions you can ask throughout the experience of making your tea to deepen your awareness of the tea, of the moment and of yourself.

It begins with the dried leavesWhat do they look like?There is a great joy in learning to differentiate the look of a Chinese green tea in comparison to a Japanese green tea for example. Get friendly with the leaves. Are they broken? Twisted? Rolled? Powdery? Long? Short? Flat? Wide? Do they look like a bunch of bug legs in your cup? (seriously, there are many teas referred to as 'spider leg')What color are they? Greenish? Teak-colored? Dark brown? Black? Mixed?Do they remind you of anything? An insect? Another plant? A feeling?

What do they smell like dry? This is one of my favourite things. The differentiating of types of tea by their scent. Like perfume, each tea region and type of tea are so very different.Are the leaves earthy? Floral? Fruity? Vegetal?Do the scents cause any memories or feelings for you?The steeping teaHow does the color develop? Is it green? Yellow? Amber? Red? Dark Brown?What aroma is released from the time the water hits the leaves through to the end of steeping time? Is there any sense memory from the aroma? (Does it take you back to that time on the beach when...)

Then the steeped leafWhat do the wet leaves look like? Do the leaves unfurl? Expand? How has their color changed? What about their aroma? What scents are there that were not present in the dry leaf?The tasteWhat is the first flavour when the tea hits your tongue? Does the flavour change as it rolls to the back? How about after? If you slurp to aerate the tea does that change the flavour? Does the experience change with subsequent sips?If this is a tea you have had before is this experience any different than the previous one? Is your palate sensing a greater array of flavor? Did you eat garlic before having this and it is totally messing with your tongue? (If so I recommend using one of these)

The effectHow does the tea make you feel? Energized? Mellow? Both? Did you get a tea high? Is your tongue buzzing? Do you just feel better?Keep record of your tastings

Keeping a tea journal is a great way to build your knowledge of tea and your preferences. You can do this with a basic notebook, but there are some great tea journals out there designed specifically for the tea lover. I have one from TeaSource that is handy and portable. You could even use multiple, one for each tea type you explore.

Tea is a great tool of focus. A moment to appreciate. To reflect on all the energy that went into the tea's creation. To reflect on the memories over a cup of tea. To feel the comfort of it. To expand your experience.

To savor life, lovelies. Every crazy, beautiful, freakish, roller-coaster step of the way.